And I beheld: and lo a Lamb stood upon mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty-four thousand, having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads.
και ειδον και ιδου το OMIT το αρνιον εστηκος επι το ορος σιων και μετ αυτου αριθμος OMIT αριθμος εκατον τεσσαρακοντα τεσσαρες ρμδ 1540 χιλιαδες εχουσαι το ονομα αυτου και το ονομα του πατρος αυτου γεγραμμενον επι των μετωπων αυτων
7 Church Fathers comment on this verse
John speaks of this resurrection: "And I saw the Lamb standing, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand," that is, standing with Christ. These are those who in the last times will come to faith through the prophecy of Elijah. Of them the Spirit bears witness that they are virgins not only in body, but also in tongue (see Rev 14:4-6 and cf. Mal 4:5-6).
By the Lamb one must, without doubt, understand Christ, standing not on another Mount Zion, but in the new city of the living God. The hundred and forty-four thousand indicate either the fruitfulness of the apostolic seed, from whom divine grace chose twelve thousand in each tribe, that is, the full fruit of the faith of those saved. Or else they indicate the virgins of the New Testament, in both the inner and the outer man, because in the Old Testament virgins were few. Therefore these thousands must be distinguished from those shown earlier, who were joined together by the names of the tribes of Israel and of whose virginity nothing was said. The faces of them all bear the seal of divine light, and therefore they appear terrible to the fallen angels.
In the Gospels it is recorded that the Lord says to the lawless Jewish people: "Behold, your house is left to you desolate" (Mt 23:38). For after the madness of the Cross they were no longer worthy of the presence of God.
How, then, is the Lord now shown in the vision standing on Mount Zion, as though Israel had repented? That their city, temple, and population were left utterly desolate was clearly shown by the Romans.
They burned the temple, set the cities on fire, devastated their whole land, and enslaved the capital itself. But the fact that the Lord is now depicted as having ascended Mount Zion indicates the return of Israel through faith in the last times.
It also shows that the Lord will make them His possession and bring them to Himself. This was proclaimed through Isaiah, who says: "The Deliverer will come from Zion and will turn ungodliness from Jacob, says the Lord" (Isa 59:20).
The prophet and the apostle agree with Isaiah in harmony with one another. One sings: "You will make them turn their back. With Your remnants You will prepare their face" (Ps 20:13). The other writes: "When the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel will be saved" (Rom 11:25-26).
Earlier John said that those who believed from Israel numbered one hundred forty-four thousand, twelve thousand from each tribe (see Rev 7:4-8). Is he speaking of them here also? I do not think so.
For he names them without using the article. He did not say "the one hundred forty-four thousand," but only "one hundred forty-four thousand." Moreover, he testifies that they preserved virginity.
Virginity was by no means an object of special striving in Israel, just as later it did not concern Christians from the Gentiles. Therefore, by those spoken of here one should understand a mixture of Israelites and Gentiles, and even mostly Gentiles.
The Lord Jesus Christ preserved His Church, weakened under the burden of persecutions, by the example of virtue and protection. Although John showed the body thrown into confusion by the dragon's power and bearing his mark, do not fear that the body of the Lamb will yield to the beast's fury.
Therefore the Church is also shown here rejoicing, in her customary radiance and number. Notice that the beast stands on the sand of the sea (Rev 13:1), while the Lamb stands on Mount Zion.
"And with Him were one hundred forty-four thousand." This finite number must be understood as an infinite number. By the meaning of a hidden mystery, the multitude of tested virgins are consecrated to Him.
They love God with all their heart, all their soul, and all their mind. They are dedicated to Him by the purity of the body, which consists of four qualities.
For three times three is nine, and four times four is sixteen. Sixteen multiplied by nine makes one hundred forty-four. Thus John saw that some, while still in bodily life, rightly stood on Mount Zion with the Lamb, surrounded by so perfect an assembly.
No doubt therefore remained concerning the other members of the Church. Their possession is His name and the name of His Father, written on their foreheads.
John shows that this is an imitation set against the mark of the beast's body on the forehead (see Rev 13:16), saying that the names of God and Christ are inscribed on the foreheads of the Church.
"The voice of many waters and of thunder, of those playing on harps," says Andrew of Caesarea, "shows the sonority of the saints' hymnody, and the sweetness and order of their song, which resounds through the whole Church of the firstborn written in heaven."
"The Lamb stood on Mount Zion." This mountain is an image of heaven. The vision presented here is, as it were, a preparation in heaven for the struggle with paganism. Only afterward is the struggle transferred to the earth and carried out in the person of Rome.
What should the state of the Lamb with the heavenly hosts on the earthly Mount Zion suggest to them? This symbolic vision before the inspired eyes of St. John directly leads to the thought of the close unity of the earthly Church.
Under the one rule of the Lamb, the Church constitutes one holy society. What does the number 144,000 mean? In Scripture definite and round numbers are sometimes used instead of indefinite ones, to express fullness or multitude, as is often done in ordinary human speech.
So here, to express the multitude of the assembly surrounding the Lamb, the number of the twelve tribes of Israel is taken, repeated twelve times, and turned into thousands, tens of thousands, and hundreds of thousands.
All this can signify only the immeasurable and boundless multitude of those members of the heavenly Church who are near the Lamb. The origin of the number 144,000 from the number of the twelve tribes of Israel is indicated in the Apocalypse itself (see Rev 7:4 and following).
The whole assembly surrounding the Lamb is represented as sealed on their foreheads with the name of the heavenly Father. This is a sign of their election and belonging to God.
It stands in contrast to the way the worshipers of the beast are sealed with his name, as a sign of their subjection and belonging to the beast.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 33 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS